San Diego Prosecutions Of Local Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff Group Concludes As Mastermind Gets Six Years In Sale Leaseback, Rent Skimming Scam

In San Diego, California, KFMB Radio 760 AM reports:

• The ringleader of a scheme in which Filipino homeowners struggling to make mortgage payments were urged to transfer property titles into a bogus trust was ordered Thursday to spend six years in prison and make restitution of $71,000.

• Edmundo Rubi, 53, pleaded guilty last month to five felony counts, including grand theft and perjury, stemming from the Ponzi scheme. The defendant also pleaded guilty to attempted foreclosure consultant fraud and using a scheme to defraud with the offer of the sale of a security. Another 49 counts were dismissed.

• Deputy District Attorney William La Fond told Judge Louis Hanoian last month that Rubi convinced more than 20 people to "quitclaim" more than 30 properties into his fraudulent trust, telling them that he would maximize their investment through his expertise, which he didn't have.

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• Co-defendant Joseph Mariano Encarnacion pleaded guilty to helping Rubi in the scheme and was sentenced to four years behind bars. Husband-and-wife real estate agents Ben and Gloria Hebron also admitted their roles and were sentenced to probation and ordered to give up their real estate licenses.(1)

For the story, see Ringleader of mortgage Ponzi scheme sentenced to six years behind bars.

(1) See Pair Dodges Jail, Get Probation For Participation In San Diego-Area Foreclosure Rescue Scam That Conned 22 Homeowners To Sign Over 34 Home Titles for an earlier post on the convictions of Rubi's confederates.